I just returned from a fantastic trip with Kevin Wilson and Alberta Hunting adventures. Hunt planning started over a year ago. Kevin was great to work with throughout the process, from initial contact, hundreds of questions, booking and helping with logistics.
I arrived in Edmonton on Saturday night, checked into my hotel and called Kevin to let him know I had arrived. He had some concerns with the weather but was confident we would still find bears. He picked me up as planned on Sunday morning and we began the five hour drive to camp. Unfortunately for us, the forecast held true and it started snowing on the drive in. Rather than set up camp in the weather, we elected to stay in a hotel In Grand Cache for the night and hit it early Monday morning. We got camp set up Monday morning, but were still dealing with cold, wet weather. This continued for the first few days. We hunted hard, but bear sightings were few, and the bears that we saw were small. There was a ton of other wildlife. Throughout the week we saw deer, moose, elk, grizzly and caribou. On Thursday, we started seeing warmer temps and the bears were moving more. We saw one shootable bear, but thick brush prevented a shot. Friday showed the best weather of the week. Sunny, warmer, and no signs of rain or snow.
Friday afternoon, we set up on a hillside overlooking a two track, where we had seen a sow with cubs early in the week along with lots of other bear sign. We also had a good view of a meadow. About thirty minutes in, a bear showed in the meadow. As I got into position for the shot, Kevin ranged the bear at 370 yards. I elected to pass and try to get closer. We got into position, about 200 yards from where we saw the bear, but he had moved into the woods. We discussed options and elected to move to the other side of the two track to see if we could catch the bear coming back into the meadow. I was laying prone, looking towards the meadow with Kevin to my right looking back towards the two track to my left. About 5 minutes after settling in, he excitedly whispered " Good bear, good bear. Don't move!" I knew the bear was somewhere to my left, but couldn't see anything form my position. A few seconds later, Kevin whispered again, "Go. Now!" I rolled up onto one knee expecting to see a bear 50-100 yards out. However, it was in a depression quartering towards us at 21 yards. (We measured after the shot) I put the scope on him, settled in and took the shot. Unfortunately, I misjudged the angle at that distance and only caught one lung with the shot. The bear immediately lunged and ran directly towards us. He wasn't charging, he had no idea we were there. As I was cycling the bolt for a follow up shot, he caught my motion from about 10 yards away, spun and ran directly away from us. I put a shot into him going away as he topped the berm on the other side of the two track. He piled up in the trees about 3-4 yards later. I have to say, having a bear running directly towards you at 10 yards will get the heart rate up!
The weather conditions had made things challenging throughout the week. The clover, dandelions and other food sources were a couple weeks behind normal. Kevin worked hard through this to put me on a good bear. The area is beautiful, wildlife is abundant, and I have no doubt we would have connected sooner and filled my second tag had the weather cooperated. I'm looking forward to next time!
I arrived in Edmonton on Saturday night, checked into my hotel and called Kevin to let him know I had arrived. He had some concerns with the weather but was confident we would still find bears. He picked me up as planned on Sunday morning and we began the five hour drive to camp. Unfortunately for us, the forecast held true and it started snowing on the drive in. Rather than set up camp in the weather, we elected to stay in a hotel In Grand Cache for the night and hit it early Monday morning. We got camp set up Monday morning, but were still dealing with cold, wet weather. This continued for the first few days. We hunted hard, but bear sightings were few, and the bears that we saw were small. There was a ton of other wildlife. Throughout the week we saw deer, moose, elk, grizzly and caribou. On Thursday, we started seeing warmer temps and the bears were moving more. We saw one shootable bear, but thick brush prevented a shot. Friday showed the best weather of the week. Sunny, warmer, and no signs of rain or snow.
Friday afternoon, we set up on a hillside overlooking a two track, where we had seen a sow with cubs early in the week along with lots of other bear sign. We also had a good view of a meadow. About thirty minutes in, a bear showed in the meadow. As I got into position for the shot, Kevin ranged the bear at 370 yards. I elected to pass and try to get closer. We got into position, about 200 yards from where we saw the bear, but he had moved into the woods. We discussed options and elected to move to the other side of the two track to see if we could catch the bear coming back into the meadow. I was laying prone, looking towards the meadow with Kevin to my right looking back towards the two track to my left. About 5 minutes after settling in, he excitedly whispered " Good bear, good bear. Don't move!" I knew the bear was somewhere to my left, but couldn't see anything form my position. A few seconds later, Kevin whispered again, "Go. Now!" I rolled up onto one knee expecting to see a bear 50-100 yards out. However, it was in a depression quartering towards us at 21 yards. (We measured after the shot) I put the scope on him, settled in and took the shot. Unfortunately, I misjudged the angle at that distance and only caught one lung with the shot. The bear immediately lunged and ran directly towards us. He wasn't charging, he had no idea we were there. As I was cycling the bolt for a follow up shot, he caught my motion from about 10 yards away, spun and ran directly away from us. I put a shot into him going away as he topped the berm on the other side of the two track. He piled up in the trees about 3-4 yards later. I have to say, having a bear running directly towards you at 10 yards will get the heart rate up!
The weather conditions had made things challenging throughout the week. The clover, dandelions and other food sources were a couple weeks behind normal. Kevin worked hard through this to put me on a good bear. The area is beautiful, wildlife is abundant, and I have no doubt we would have connected sooner and filled my second tag had the weather cooperated. I'm looking forward to next time!
